Hand Stripping the Pet Border Terrier

The Border Terrier is a small spunky terrier that is a great family pet and a good breed for hand stripping in the pet grooming salon. The body and legs are stripped short, without any noticeable pattern, and the distinct breed characteristic, the "otter" head, is easily obtained by taking everything off except short whiskers. Most Border Terriers have coats that are easily plucked, and most of them tolerate hand stripping with a minimum amount of fussing.

Here is Zoe, a five month old Border Terrier from Yuma, Arizona. Her owners drove three hours to Tucson for her first hand stripping. I was impressed with their commitment. This is the picture that Zoe's owner sent me from their home to allow me to glimpse the coat status:

Yes, she's ready for some work, alright! When they showed up for the appointment, we did a little pre-groom assessment. To do this, I put on a latex glove and pinch some hair from a few places. This tells me how easily (or not) the hair will come out, and gives me an idea of how the dog is going to tolerate the hand stripping. The pre-groom assessment of Zoe indicated that the coat was not going to be super difficult to strip, but neither was it fully "blown" or at the point of nearly fallling out. I also got a clue that Zoe was going to be a little wiggly on the table. I was right on both counts.

I established three major priorities for the grooming session

• Work the head to the proper appearance.
• Get as much of an overall groom as possible in one session.
• Maintain sensitivity to the puppy's tolerance for hand stripping.
  

While hand stripping does not hurt, it is not without sensation either, and my intention is to never make grooming a distasteful experience for a dog, especially a puppy, and especially a pet that does not have to go into the show ring. Our goal is to approximate the show groom, within the limits of the dog's coat and structure and their tolerance of grooming procedures.

In this particular case, we did rather well. (If I may say so myself). There were a couple of places where I cheated with the hand stripping: I clipped her tummy. She was very uncooperative about her tail, and I stripped some and scissored some with blenders. I also used the blenders under her tail. I tidied up the feet with scissors. I wanted to use the clippers to get the ears a little more clean, but she would have nothing to do with the clippers around her face, so I abandoned the idea.

Table time was about 2.5 hours. This included a bath. Bathing hand stripped dogs is another whole subject. I dislike doing it, because it can ruin the results of all the hand work you just did, but pet owners expect bathing as a part of a groom. So we grin and bear it. My gripe is not so much that the shampooing always softens the coat, but that the drying lifts the coat so that it is no longer tight. It is a battle to get the coat to lay right. The "proper" way to dry a harsh terrier coat is sacking, or wrapping snugly in toweling. This presses the hair to the body at the same time it absorbs moisture. For Zoe, I used a combination of high velocity drying with a flat attachment, combing the coat flat, and wrapping with a towel and hugging her to press the coat.

For a few of my hand strips, the owners do the bathing, 7-10 days before the hand stripping. This works for me, but it does not work for many pet owners. They want a clean and fresh dog when they hand over the big price of hand stripping. Zoe's groom was $100.00. They generously tipped $20.00.

Here is Zoe at home after her grooming.

Here are the before/after pics on my grooming table:

It's not a perfect groom. I see things.... I should have pulled more from the chest, where it meets the legs, or trimmed it there. Grooming pictures are almost always humbling, but they help me see what I need to do next time.

OMG, isn't she just the cutest thing? This picture will make you want one!

At Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, Arizona, hand stripping is one of the special services provided by owner/groomer, Barbara Bird, a Certified Master Groomer. For appointments call 520-795-5743. More information about our services may be found here: http://www.transformationpetcenter,com/

2011 Update: Handstripping of pet terriers continues to be a growing part of our service.

"Maggie", pictured here, is a pet Border terrier that gets hand stripped in order to preserve the texture and color of her coat. Her coat was cleaned and freshened with Chris Christensen Dry Breeze, a waterless cleaner, in order to preserve the firmness of the jacket. When groomers shampoo hand stripped coats, they become soft and fluffy. Hair that you elected not to remove on that day will often stand up and wave at you after a wet bath. Arghhh! Chris Christensen Dry Breeze avoided that problem with Maggie's grooming. This coat looked and felt great when done, and she smelled fresh and clean!

Maggie lives in Tucson and is able to come for grooming every eight weeks. This was her second visit. Regular visits help us to maintain a coat without having to take it down "to the underwear" and make the dog look naked.

March 15, 2011. Meet "Eddie", our most recent Border Terrier subject. Eddie is a recently retired show dog, an established Champion. According to his proud new owner, Eddie was ranked as the #8 Border Terrier in the country upon his retirement. He's #1 with us! Not only is he one handsome fella, Eddie was patient and tolerant throughout the grooming, a groomer's delight. He is enjoying his retirement and loves sleeping on the bed with his new owner. He is relishing the Good Life of a beloved pet. And we are happy that he found the way to Transformation Pet Center for grooming! Our efforts at working on achieving the correct "look" for this breed have paid off. The owners commented that Eddie looked as good or better after our grooming than he did when they first got him right from the show ring. Yes, paying attention to specific breed details pays off!!